Found (But Never Lost)
by what.will.come.will.come
Summary: Stiles leaves Beacon Hills, no one notices that he's gone for a long time. Eight years later he returns but he is not the same, nor is he alone. Sterek, if you don't like that than don't read this. BAMF!Stiles (The first part is background information)
1. Home Again

They had been a week into the second semester of their senior year when they had found out Stiles was gone. Terrified, they had run to the sheriff wanting to know if he had been kidnapped, had disappeared, or worse – had died.The sheriff explained to them that Stiles had graduated a semester early, collected his diploma and headed off to college. They had called his cell phone, but he never answered. He never replied to their texts or e-mails either. He had just disappeared.

They began to realize that they had driven him away by ignoring him and taking advantage of him; so they changed.

They made sure they checked up on each other regularly, never going a few days without talking to each other, they became more of a pack more of a family. But Stiles haunted them like a ghost. They never forgot him – never forgot what they did to him.

Sometimes they went to the sheriff to ask how Stiles was doing, and he would give them the basics: Stiles graduated college, Stiles went on to graduate school, he studied History, and he moved to Europe and spent a long time just travelling around.

That was it though.

Just the very basics; not how he was doing, if he was enjoying himself, if he made friends, if he dated anybody. That was especially curious to Derek for he eventually realized that he had been in love with Stiles. He realized it slowly, realized that he missed Stiles' scent; he missed his presence, his talkative nature; missed everything about him. Finally he realized why he always used to get so close to Stiles, why he always threatened him but never would go through with it. He loved him.

They didn't just miss Stiles' life however. Stiles missed the rest of the pack's lives as well. He missed Scott's wedding to Allison and Lydia's to Jackson. Surprisingly, Derek became a deputy sheriff. Scott, Isaac, and Boyd went to the police academy after high school then joined the sheriff's office. Allison went to law school before becoming a state attorney. Lydia and Jackson opened up a coffee shop that quickly became the most popular hang out in Beacon Hills. Danny went into business and helped Jackson out when he needed it. And Erica did the one thing NO ONE expected her to do; she became an English teacher.

~S~S~

_Eight and a half years after Stiles left Beacon Hills_

"Scott you'll have to move faster than that."

The pack is running in the woods. There hadn't been any trouble since the Alpha Pack, but Derek always made a point to keep them in shape working as a well-oiled machine,

"Pick up the pace."

Derek suddenly stops, and the others stumble to not run into each other as they come to a stop behind him. He cocks his head to the left, listening. The others share a look, and then they hear it too: the sound of about three motorcycles and a car. They're too far from the main road for it to be just anyone. The only people who usually come out here are the pack and people after the pack.

"Let's go."

They take off running again, this time towards the sound of the motors. They reach them a couple seconds after the engines cut.

When they come into view they see five men getting off of the motorcycles, and they form a semicircle on the driver's side of a black jeep. The jeep's windows are tinted and so far no one has come out.

"I can smell two people in the jeep," Scott informs the pack, after Derek directs them to stop, "I don't recognize the scent of any of the men around the jeep, but one of the scents in the jeep is familiar, I just can't place it."

"You're right," Derek seems on edge.

"Let's watch. If whoever it is needs help we can step in."

So they sit in the shadows and watch as the five men close in on the jeep. When they are about seven feet from the door it opens. Out steps a man of medium height, possibly a couple inches shorter than Derek. The hood of his jacket is up but the pack can see he is well built.

Two of the men surrounding him rush forward, but he throws a kick, catching one of the men in the temple, who falls to the forest floor, unmoving.

The other throws a punch but the man deflects it with his left arm and jabs his attacker in the stomach – who falls to the ground.

Now the other three motorcyclists join in.

The first throws a kick, but the man catches it and pulls him off balance into the second. As they tumble to the ground the third man pulls out a gun, and quickly the man from the jeep pulls one as well.

Derek growls but before any of the werewolves can move an all too familiar voice speaks,

"Your code doesn't allow you to hurt humans, and I really doubt your boss would like it too much either. Why don't we both put our guns away?"

Amazingly, after a moment's hesitation, the man lowers his gun and tucks it back into its holster.

"Good boy. Now leave."

The voice is cold and commanding. The five men get up, stumble back onto their bikes, and leave. The man sighs and puts his gun away.

Only then does the pack come out from their hiding place and approach the car.

"Stiles?"

Scott sounds tentative. The man whips back around and giving them all a clear view of his face. It is rough, with a scar on the left side of the jaw, but it is definitely the face of the long lost Stiles Stilinski.

A slow smile spreads over Stiles' face, but before he can say anything a voice comes from inside the jeep.

"Daddy? Are we there yet?"

The door on the driver's side still stands open and through it the pack can see a little girl of maybe six years old climbing out of the car. Stiles strides over and scoops her up in his arms. She giggles and Stiles brushes back her black hair, tucking it behind her ear.

"Angel, I thought you were asleep."

Stiles voice is calm and slightly lower than they remember.

Jackson gives a small cough and the pair's attention is brought back to the group. Stiles smiles sadly and walks over to them. The girl in his arms holds tightly to him as if she is afraid they will try to take her away from him.

No one speaks for awhile until Isaac breaks the silence,

"You're back."

"I am."

"And who is this?" Erica asks.

"This is my daughter, Nikki Stilinski. I adopted her about three years ago."

Nikki shyly buries her head into her father's shoulder and Stiles gives her a little squeeze.

"I'm sorry, you guys probably have a lot of questions and I promise I will answer them all, but I told my father I would be home ten minutes ago so I have to get there."

He turns and walks to the jeep before any of them have time to react. He puts Nikki down on the seat and she scrambles over. Just as he's going to close the door behind himself Scott steps forward,

"Stiles, are you staying?"

"Yeah Scott, I'm home."


	2. Reunions and Questions

Of course there was no way the pack was just going to let Stiles walk away after that, but they didn't move quick enough to stop his car. So they sprint towards the Sheriff's house arriving just as Stiles is getting out of the car. They stop at the edge of the woods not knowing how to proceed.

The front door opens and the Sheriff walks onto the porch. Stiles grins at his father but before either of them can make a move a blur of small limbs and black hair goes running up to the older man. Nikki jumps into his arms as he leans down to pick her up, "Grandpa!" Her voice is all bundled up joy and excited tension. The Sheriff is speaking to his granddaughter and Stiles is getting bags out the jeep. The pack wants to go to them and join in the family reunion, but they don't know how, don't know if they are welcome or not. Thankfully they don't have to because right at that moment a car pulls up to the house and Lydia, Allison and Danny come pouring out then tackle Stiles in a hug. Seeing this Scott can't hold himself back any longer and joins in. Cautiously the rest of the pack walks toward the dog pile but stops a few feet away.

So caught up in watching their long lost friend, none of them notice as Nikki walks up to them, not until she's pulling on Derek's pant leg that is. Derek looks down and his eyes meet the emerald green of the child's, "Are you Derek?" She no longer has the slur of children that are still learning to speak but it sounds soft an innocent, just like any child's voice should.

"Yes I am," Derek is unsure of how to continue and shoots a look at the other four standing beside him but he receives no help from their shocked and curious faces. "Umm… Your name is Nikki, right?"

"Ya," A huge smile spreads over Nikki's face, like the fact that the alpha remembers her name is the greatest present she ever received. She speaks fast, ranting in way that she obviously learned from Stiles, "Its short for Nicole. I was born in England. You were born here, right? You're a werewolf, right? Do you like being a werewolf? Daddy says that you're an alpha. Uncle Jonathan is an alpha, he lives in Ireland. He gave me a doll for my birthday two months ago. He let us stay with him when-"

She didn't get any farther than that because Stiles had managed to extract himself from the tangle of arms and picked her up in his own. "Nikki, Derek doesn't need to know about our travels right now."

"Okay Daddy," Nikki raps her arms around her father's neck.

"What? Daddy?" Lydia looks astounded. They knew that they had missed a lot of Stiles' life, but a daughter, they had never even considered that.

"Oh right, you weren't there when I introduced her. Everyone this is my daughter Nikki, I said that earlier right? Anyway, Nikki this is-"

"I know I know their names, let me do it." Stiles chuckles and nods his consent. "Right," she points to each as she says their names, "Derek, Erica, Isaac, Boyd, Jackson, Allison, Scott, Danny, and Lydia. See, see I remembered."

Stiles smiles proudly, "Ya Angel, you did good."

"Oh my God," Lydia squeals and rushes forward as if to take Nikki into her own arms. She stops short when Nikki gasps and clings tighter to Stiles. For a second there's a look of fear in her eyes before she buries her face into his shoulder. His eyes soften until they look almost sad. Slowly Nikki loosens her vise like grip and allows Stiles to lower her to the ground.

Kneeling down so he is level with his daughter, Stiles gives her a small smile, "Angel, we're in Beacon Hills now, it's safe here. No one's going to take you away from me. You don't need to be afraid." Nikki gives a small nod and a tentative smile then runs back to the Sheriff's waiting arms. With a nod at Stiles he takes his granddaughter inside and leaves his son to talk to the confused pack.

"Stiles," He turns around and meets Scott's worried gaze, "What have you been doing?"


	3. When Life Knocks You Down, Run

"Stiles." He turns around and meets Scott's worried gaze, "What have you been doing?"

For a minute Stiles turns back and just stares at the door through which his daughter has disappeared. "Every parent wishes that for child to be special, adopted or not, but I would give anything for her to not be."

He pulls in a shaky breath, still looking at the door, "A little over three years ago I was walking through a small village in Southern Italy when I heard gunshots. Naturally, I ran straight towards it."

He finally turns to them and offers a weak smile. "As I got closer, I saw a house with the door broken down. I thought about walking away, I really did, but I heard a woman scream, and I just didn't think – I just ran in.

"I still have nightmares about it; a man lay on the ground with an arrowin his chest… he was just staring at me with his eyes wide open in shock.

"I heard another scream and ran down the hallway. That's where the woman was. She was standing in front of a crib begging at a man with a crossbow. The way he was dressed, what he was carrying; it was obvious he was a hunter."

At this the pack growled low in their throats, but Stiles continued as if he hadn't heard them,

"She was speaking in Italian so I don't know what she was saying, but she just kept begging him. Before I could move, the man pulled the trigger and she was dead.

"I barely remember what happened after that. I had picked up a gun just in case, and I think I shot him. When I went to the crib there was a toddler there – she looked to be about two years old. I heard shouts from outside – more Italian. I just picked her up and ran. Something inside me was just yelling that I needed to protect her.

"I found out why they were after her a few days later. I had left her in the hotel room to sleep while I went to get more supplies. When I got back the mattress she was sleeping on was floating a foot off the bed."

A gasp was uttered from someone in the pack but once again Stiles ignored it,

"After that I would notice it here and there. She had no idea what she was doing but that just meant I had to keep a closer eye on her. The hunters kept coming. Not the same ones but at least once a week we would be attacked by one group or another. A few werewolf packs gave us shelter. We stayed with Jonathan the longest. He, his wife, and the rest of their pack were very peaceful. I was able to help Nikki gain some control over her abilities but things still go flying when she's really scared – sometimes when gets too excited – but we're working on that."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and finally focused his attention back on the people he had left so many years earlier. For a minute no one moved or said anything as they tried to wrap their minds around what they had just been told. In the end it was Lydia that broke the tension by walking over to Stiles and pulling him into a tight hug.

"We're glad you're safe," she whispered soothingly into his ear.

There was a time when Stiles would have swooned at just the thought of being held in the arms of Lydia Martin, but that time was long gone and now he just hugged her back, relishing the comfort. When she finally pulled back he gave her small smile of thanks.

"That still doesn't explain why you're back."

Everyone shoots Jackson a dirty look but Stiles just chuckles, smile widening at the familiarity of Jackson's cold demeanour.

"Well, since Nik's five she needs to go to kindergarten. I was hoping she would be safe here."

His last sentence was directed towards Derek, being more of a request than a statement.

The world seemed to freeze for a minute as everyone held the breath, waiting for the Alpha's response. With a nod from the gruff werewolf, everyone sighed at the exact same time then burst into laughter.


End file.
